A Possible 1st Century 'Sacred Space' and Mid-Late 2nd Century Field System: Archaeological excavation at Swan Farm Buildings, Preston Capes, Northamptonshire,

The main aim of the work was to record any significant archaeological deposits impacted by the development, to collate the fieldwork records into an archaeological archive and present the results of the fieldwork for dissemination. Topsoil and subsoil were removed by a tracked 360p excavator equipped with a bladed ditching bucket under constant archaeological supervision. Ground reduction was in shallow spits, taking care to keep topsoil and subsoil separated, until the uppermost archaeological horizon or the geological natural was reached (whichever was the higher). Excavation then continued by hand The work was carried out in accordance with The Chartered Institute for Archaeologists Standards and Guidelines (CIfA 2020). The results the excavations are highly unusual. The earliest evidence from the Site, fragments of Iron Age type pottery, were not in-situ but redeposited in a mid to late 2nd Century field boundary gully, it is argued as an act of respect, perhaps over a hundred years later. The remains of a small, assumed to be sub-rectangular area, enclosed by a gully containing late 1st Century pottery was destroyed by another parallel, mid to late 2nd Century boundary gully, which also contained residual pottery. This gully also cut a hollow with an unusual concentration of early 2nd Century pottery. Flanking the area were two further boundary gullies, and all the gullies appear to have extended towards the adjacent cropmark enclosure. There is no unambiguous evidence for domestic structures in the site, but there is a comparatively high number of large pottery fragments, a large number of which were buried or re-buried long after it was made. One explanation is that there was some form of sacred area that later boundary features disturbed, but which, retained its importance as suitable receptacles for votive deposits for at least a Century afterwards. The linear features, assumed to be boundaries with attendant hedges, extend from the cropmark to the south at an angle not represented in the cropmark and, therefore, very likely to post-date the enclosure. Although there is no necessity to assume they were related, it is possible that they followed or respected a route from the enclosure to a settlement to the north-west. The area was undoubtedly within a rural landscape on the periphery of settlement. The evidence available points to a pastoral fieldscape perhaps part of mixed landscape evolving in the early Roman period (mid-1st to the later 2nd Century). Whilst no pre-Roman features were evident, the presence of redeposited Iron Age pottery in a manner reminiscent of the Iron Age depositional custom associated with feasting, may indicate the continuance of long-held practice and possibly therefore a resistance to Roman influence. A small heavily truncated probable rectangular enclosure containing pottery of 1st Century AD date may, possibly all that remains of a barrow may have been late element in the posited Iron age sacred area. A ditch and posthole of early 2nd Century date were associated with notably high quantities of 'low-status' jars and drinking vessels imply that the culture of feasting continued for a couple more generations and perhaps that the community continued to maintain a pastoral economy utilising functional food containers rather than 'higher status' fine tablewares that very often are associated with agrarian farms. The linear gullies suggest a broadly north-south alignment in the late 2ndCentury, potentially associated with a Roman road thought to pass through the village, but jars and drinking vessels continued to dominate the pottery assemblage